SCHOOLS OF WHALES 119 



Several points rose boldly from the sea forming bays 

 and open roadsteads ; but none of them, I should think, 

 would afford shelter from southerly gales ; and nowhere 

 could we find a landing-place where it would be possible 

 to reach the country above without a stiff climb. Along 

 the base of the cliffs there is a narrow strip of beach, often 

 completely covered at high-water ; and in some places the 

 action of the waves has eaten out caverns in the face of 

 the rocks at a considerable height above the water ; but 

 for long distances there are absolutely no landing places ; 

 and a vessel caught in a storm off this coast would have 

 no alternative but to put out to sea or be dashed to pieces. 

 I cannot dwell on the risk of such a craft as the Swan 

 remaining on such a coast, lest it should be thought I wish 

 to magnify the importance of what was a mere pleasure 

 trip in a tiny yacht ; but I felt a good deal of uneasiness, 

 especially as the weather more than once threatened 

 trouble. The Swan had never been a crack sailer, and 

 recent alterations, although they had strengthened her 

 frame, had not improved her sailing qualities. We could 

 not have got off the coast in the face of a stiff gale. 



Nearly the whole of the time we were in the Bight, we 

 had plenty of wind, but not a drop of rain, though several 

 times a storm seemed to be imminent. We did not land 

 at all on the 16th. On the morning of the 17th, a ship was 

 seen hull down in the offing, and a large sperm whale 

 (Physeter macrocephalus) was lying quietly very near to us. 

 Shortly afterwards a school of twenty of these animals 

 came in sight ; and we concluded that the vessel in the 

 offing was a whaler, in pursuit of them. She had pro- 

 bably made a capture as she appeared to be stationary ; 

 but she was so far off that we could only see her topmasts 

 through a spying-glass. Several of the largest of the 

 whales were thought to be sixty feet long ; and they must 

 be dull of sight and hearing, otherwise it is impossible to 

 believe that they would not have discovered us. Some of 

 them passed very leisurely within three hundred yards of 

 us, going eastward, in which direction the school dis- 

 appeared. Before the last of them was out of sight an 



